latin america developed?

Question

Why was Latin America developed into approximately 40 countries of limited economic wealth after having been colonized by the Spanish and Portuguese while North America developed into two large economically powerful nations after having been colonized by the British??

Answer 1

The Portuguese colonised one large country, Brazil, that has been quite successful economically. Certainly it prospered well ahead of Portugal until well into the 20th century. The falling behind the US and Canada is perhaps due primarily to greed and envy. Exploitative slave-owner-like attitudes among the powerful, especially in the NE, and the development of a resentment/crime ethic among the poor...... in contrast to the work-ethic all-things-are-possible "American Dream".

As for the ex-Spanish colonies, the Spanish came to plunder and to forcibly convert people to their religious dogma. They built a ruthless, destructive, violent, gold-lustful, King-downwards heirarchical, empire. The British had a much more economy-minded attitude to colonising -- their slogan was "trade follows the flag". They became an imperial power as if by default, as a byproduct of industrialisation and coming to have about half the whole world's GDP in the 1850s, much more than by aggressive intention. There was something bottom-up about their colonies in N America, a buccaneering spirit that was the forerunner of modern "free enterprise". Heroes like Raleigh, Penn and Franklin were coming from spirits of idealism and adventure. It was a value system that was fundamentally much less hostile to humanity and positive moral values, despite slavery in the US South and in the West Indies, and therefore more conducive to long-term prosperity. The British N American colonies, right from the start with the Mayflower, were a haven and a beacon for people wanting freedom from tyranny, whereas the Spanish colonies were themselves tyrannies. So in the 19th century when enterprising people from east European countries that spoke neither English nor Spanish looked for a way out of despair and poverty, they mostly chose the United States to emigrate to, and the famous 'melting pot' created unrivalled prosperity.